Rule of thumb
by Thefreakoutsideyourwindow
Summary: It may have helped him relax but it didn't help him with their mocking gazes, with the disdain in their voices. Thankfully that is no longer an issue.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **A/N: This is from a prompt off LJ (** **guardian - kink . livejournal 1806 . html ? thread = 507918 # t507918)**

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The need crops up sometimes. Most of the time it's just a dull ache, like he's missing something. Other times it's like he is a man without water, stranded in a desert and he _needs_ it, just to think through the next step, just to breathe. He imagines it's like what smokers feel back on Terra without a cigarette, like breathing air is close to what he needs but not quite enough. And, much like smokers, the need crops up bigger and stronger than ever when in a stressful situation.

When he was first taken, _abducted_ his mind corrects, he would do it near constantly, if for no other purpose than to stop the tears from spilling - though they did anyway. Working on a ravager ship was by no means the cleanest so he often saw to spitting on his thumb and rubbing the worst of the grime away at the very least before sucking on it and soothing the urge.

Horuz was the first to find him doing it, curled up at the end of the canteen after a long day, thumb effectively equipped in mouth, sucking commencing when the man grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket, holding him up for everyone in the canteen to see before shouting, "Didn't know we captured a baby Terran!" The crew erupted in laughter and Peter, mortified, squirmed in his grip as Horuz slowly lowered him to the ground, laughing himself as he did so. He held Peter's shoulder for a little while longer until the laughing died down so he'd stop sucking him thumb out of shame instead of running off to go do it somewhere else. The wisps of his beard tickled his ear as Horuz leaned down over his shoulder and whispered, almost as an afterthought, "Might wanna stop doin' that, boy. Crew haven't eaten a baby Terran before."

Peter stayed away from the canteen for three days.

And eventually Yondu found out about the whole commotion of thumb sucking and staying the hell away from the canteen even if it meant no food because Yondu's Yondu and he just somehow knew. Or perhaps it was the fact that Peter wasn't the best at hiding everything and he's a little oblivious but Peter ignored that fact staring him in the face.

So when Peter is well fed after a lack of food for three days and hence far less likely to burst into tears (but even then it was only a maybe) Yondu guided him into his cabin and let him sit on his bed as he leant against the near impossibly thick glass that made up a massive window across from his bed that showed stars zipping past them at tremendous speeds. Peter watched them go by and slowly started to relax after the previous anxiety filled days and founds himself putting his thumb in his mouth subconsciously and sucking.

Yondu watched him with a passive gaze, arms folded across his midsection and then closed his eyes with a slight huff before he asked, "That a comforting thing to you, boy?"

And Peter, far too tired to pretend or fight back meekly nodded and looked back up at Yondu with worried eyes. Yondu looked back at him with calculating and cautious ones ( _no disappointment, there was never any disappointment in his gaze_ ) before running a hand over his crest and with a mutter of "Ah hell." he knelt to the boy's height and whispered, "If ya wanna do it kid, feel free, just don' get yer slobber anywhere. I wouldn't keep doin' it if I were you, shit's stuff for dumb babies, but I can't stop ya." Yondu paused again, as if regretting something before adding, "Jus' don't come cryin' to me when they make fun of ya, 'cause this ain't the last time it'll happen."

Thoroughly believing every word out of Yondu's mouth, Peter nodded, gave Yondu a small hug around his midsection and scampered off to cause trouble somewhere else, dearly hoping that he'd never have a confrontation like he did with Horuz ever again.

From that day onward Peter tries to keep the thumb sucking to a minimum but despite his efforts, whenever he's tired or stressed his thumb finds its way into his mouth. As he grows older he finds himself caring less and less what the other ravagers around him say (though that doesn't stop the embarrassment that comes and goes from time to time) and when he has his own m-ship the whole 'babyish thumb sucking' becomes a non issue as no one but himself is there to see it. And, in the rare case that there is another person, it's a one night stand and he doesn't particularly care what they think of him once the wild sex is over and done with.

Except now comes the problem that he's surrounded by four people who he very much cares about and if not sucking his thumb is what it'll take for them to not undermine him then he won't, no matter how big the urge gets. He'll just dissolve it through practice shooting or counting backwards from 100.

In spite of his strong will, there comes a time when he has had little more than 5 hours of sleep a night for a week, they're incredibly close to destroying a drug cartel and there have been more than a few run ins with the local gangs and Peter is officially stressed the fuck out after a blast from a gun narrowly misses his head and instead singes some of his hair.

As it is he's currently sat at the table in the common room, the others doing their own things around him as Rocket and Drax argue who'll kick the most ass and Gamora casually assures them that she'll tally up the most bad ass points. Groot's in the background too, most likely swaying to the sound of his mix tape. But this time the mix tape isn't enough to relax him and before he knows it he's stuck his thumb in his mouth and has just begun sucking lightly, finally unwinding for the first time in the week when everything goes silent.

Blinking back into reality, Peter slowly looks at his team mates' curious expressions with his own confused one and is about to ask what's wrong when he realises that he can't because _he's stuck his stupid God damn thumb in his mouth like a fucking idiot oh God he's totally blown it now-_ Face flushed with embarrassment he all but jumps out of his seat and pulls his thumb out of his mouth roughly as he does so, making his way over to the sink to wash his hands as he explains, "Sorry about that guys, heh, shit stupid habit yanno, gotta stop doing such a babyish thing and weirding you all out. I won't do it again, promise, I just-"

He is cut off by a concerned "Peter." coming from Gamora. He finishes scrubbing his hands furiously and resists the damnable urge to tug on his hair as he turns around, _anything to keep me from sucking, anything but that, please God don't hate me, don't think me stupid, don't-_ But instead of her expression being condescending or even amused it is instead accepting and comforting, like a look a mother would give to her child. It seems out of place yet oddly right at the same time. She moves to grab his hand and he flinches for a moment but allows her to pick it up.

She looks at his thumb and back to him and it takes everything it has to not look away in shame. "If this action comforts you then do it, it is not our place to judge. This action harms no one."

Her statement is met by a rumble from Drax in agreement, kindness in his eyes as well before he adds, "My daughter used to do it as well, she'd be all worked up about school yet sucking her thumb for a short while calmed her better than we could."

Their words give Peter pause and he looks to them before asking, "So, it really doesn't weird you out? You don't actually mind or think I'm babyish or-"

This time Peter is cut off by a laugh from Rocket, "If we were gonna be picky about anything, it'd be the gross state of your damned ship!"

This is followed by a soft, "I am Groot!" from Groot, still confined to his pot yet tendrils growing out to pet Rocket.

"Groot's got a point," Rocket adds, "If you all were gonna be weirded out by anything I thought it'd be my grooming, Drax thought it'd be his cooking and Gamora thought it'd be her singing and meditation. Basically, your thumb sucking is just another minor detail added to the pot o' crazy we got on this ship."

Peter looks from Rocket to Groot to Drax to Gamora, the relief on his face growing ever more present by the second as he is overcome by his weariness from this week's events. "So...you guys wouldn't really mind if I, you know..."

Gamora snorts as she makes her way over to him and guides him down to the impressive collection of pillows and blankets they've slowly accumulated in the sleeping area. "If we were _that_ picky about each other I highly doubt that we'd have even been pleasant acquaintances to each other."

Peter laughs quietly at that as Drax and Rocket with Groot in hand make their way down to the sleeping area. Somehow, Peter finds himself lying next Drax as Drax spoons him from behind and Gamora from the front, weaving her hands gently through his hair in the way she knows will make him calm down as Rocket manages to wedge himself next to Peter's head with Drax stroking his fur, a small Groot watching the scene with endearment in xie's eyes, pot beside Gamora's head.

In spite of the assurance they have given Peter he still looks up at Gamora with uncertain eyes. She gives him a small smile before murmuring, "It's alright, you can suck your thumb if it soothes you." Peter then takes a breath and does just that, placing it in his mouth and sucking lightly, breathing instantly becoming more relaxed as his eyelids begin to droop. Drax tightens his grip somewhat and so does Gamora, the two of them sharing a sleepy glance at each other before placing their own heads down to rest, Drax still absent mindedly petting Rocket's fur as they all slowly drift off.

Needless to say, Peter hasn't ever been as stressed since.

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 **Prompt: Peter has an old habit of sucking his thumb which he never grew out of. When he was first picked up by Yondu he did it almost constantly to soothe his anxiety, the ravagers made fun of him for it, calling him a 'baby' which didn't help. Yondu was more understanding, but still told him to stop.**

 **As an adult when's he particularly tired or stressed he slips his thumb in his mouth. He can't help it, its just a natural reaction.**

 **Then he accidentally sucks his thumb in front of the other guardians, because he's so used to being alone he just forgets. They don't really care, but Peter freaks out when he realises what he's doing. Cue the team reassuring him and telling him it's okay to self-soothe if he needs to.**

 **\+ cookies, for some cuddling.**

Hope you liked it! ;D


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